Shearwater hooked us into their new material with the lovely, melancholic, horn-threaded, feather-and-ambulance-themed lead track “Rooks” and now they’ve got us with the “Rooks” b-side as well. Surprise: It’s a cover of Talk Talk’s Spirit Of Edem opening epic, “The Rainbow.” Jonathan Meiburg & Co. keep it expansive and atmospheric, letting the track unroll slowly like Talk Talk intended. Note that the accompanying photo is Shearwater in their current power-trio form. Thor’s beard is coming along nicely.

Maybe we’re reading to far into this, but doesn’t Rook‘s album art remind you of Spirit Of Eden? Maybe it’s the shared feathers, the backdrop, or the general shape of it … or the Talk Talk b-side. In addition to the news of Rook, Meiburg’s quit Okkervill River under “completely amicable” conditions, to turn his focus to Shearwater. He says:

This is just a logical extension of the way things have been going since Palo Santo … Shearwater’s increasingly demanding schedule has meant that I’ve performed with Okkervil less and less over the past two years, and with Rook coming out in June, we all felt that it would be best if I completely disengaged from Okkervil rather than stretch myself too thin.

Makes sense to us, Jonathan.

The “Rooks” 7″ is out now, though it’s not yet available digitally. Rook is out 6/3. Both are via Matador. As we mentioned previously, the band is on tour. Here are the updated dates:

05/16 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s w/ Clinic
05/17 – Vancouver, BV @ Richards on Richards*
05/18 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge*
05/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent *
05/20 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour*
05/22 – Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
05/29 – Austin, TX @ The Parish (performing Rook)
06/13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earle
06/14 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
06/15 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat^
06/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg#
06/20 – Cambridge, MA @ T.T. The Bear’s Place#
06/21 – Danbury, CT @ Heirloom Arts Theatre#
06/22 – Montreal, QUE @ Lambi#
06/23 – Toronto, ONT @ Horseshoe Tavern#
06/24 – Chicago, IL@ Mansion#
06/27 – Fort Worth, TX @ Lola’s
06/28 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
* w/ Clinic
^ w/ Cryptacize
# w/ Frog Eyes and Evangelicals

Finally, in keeping with the Rook theme, here’s Jonathan with a bird.